Cheaper Oil for Fuel?

kathdawson

Well mentioning trading standards and the local press in my last correspondence resulted in the £1200 cheque and them admitting to being "over zealous" in their pricing.

They did also automatically upgrade us to premium oil as a perk for being a loyal customer in August 2012, apparently they sent a marketing letter! Anyway we didn't order it so they have had to give us that money back.

They have basically made a right old pigs ear of this and just piled on prices. I just didn't think they could or would push prices up and keep them up when their costs went down.

I'd never recommend automatic top up schemes for this reason.

fyr

Our Oil Club history may assist re historic prices, though you could expect to pay somewhat over this if not bulk buys:
http://www.mychieveley.co.uk/index.php?page=50

LittleVermin

gamston wrote: »

39.4p Woldmarsh saved £50 on the others we rang (Feb 2015)
Nth Notts/Lincolnshire area
looks like I missed the ready cheap prices

Woldlink (part of Woldmarsh) - 01507 605230 - 37.99 ppl for 1000l today

Ebe_Scrooge

kathdawson wrote: »

I'd never recommend automatic top up schemes for this reason.

And you'll see exactly this advice posted on this forum many times over.

Unfortunately they've not technically done anything wrong. They offered goods to you at a certain price, you accepted the offer and bought the goods. No difference to comparing the price of a tin of beans between Waitrose and Lidl and deciding which price is more appealing to you.

Sorry, I'm not meaning to blame you in any way or sound nasty - their business practice may not be legally wrong but is definitely morally questionable.

As you rightly say, there are rarely any benefits to these "automatic top-up" schemes ( well, there's a benefit to the supplier, but not to the customer ! ). And well done you for managing to get something back from them.

gamston

LittleVermin wrote: »

Woldlink (part of Woldmarsh) - 01507 605230 - 37.99 ppl for 1000l today

we have to have a small tanker to deliver our oil so I don't know if they charge extra for that

RichardHowells

Depends on your def of small. Some suppliers in some areas use the four wheel tankers as a matter of course.

In some areas there are 'baby tankers' They are about the size of a large van. They are more expensive to run as they can only do a couple of deliveries before having to go back to refill. Of course they charge more.

G_M

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

As you rightly say, there are rarely any benefits to these "automatic top-up" schemes ( well, there's a benefit to the supplier, but not to the customer ! ).

epends what you consider a 'benefit'.

To some people, price may be of secondary importance compared with never having to monitor their tank, or place an order. Or spreading the cost monthly across the year may be a better benefit than getting the cheapest price.

But for those of us to whom price is the key benefit, I agree, these schemes are totally inappropriate.

edit: my oil club price today: £37.77

Kezza1_2

Just found this organisation (not-for-profit) that works nationwide. It's linked to my local Devon Oil Collective.

I previously had deliveries via boilerjuice, but it was always Butler that delivered, so found that I could get a cheaper price direct with them.

However, just did a quote and it came to 55.01ppl today. Couldn't believe it, so checked with OFPS and got an order in for a delivery at 37.79ppl.

Butler are being entirely cynical. I did a quote at the same postcode for the same amount, with a duff name. The result? 40.06ppl. It's blatant profiteering as they think they can overcharge me by 15ppl as I'm a signed up account holder. So much for loyalty!

OFPS can be reached on 01993 225011. They also have a scheme to help those on low incomes. Brilliant.

Better_Days

Just got the order price through from our Community Scheme:
The Member price is 38.20 pence per litre
(plus 5% VAT = 40.11 pence per litre)

astreet3

I'd forgotten about this thread. Had our tank filled a couple of weeks back, price negotiated by our local buying group at 38.20ppl. Apparently the price of oil had risen sharply by about 12% due to cold weather across europe increasing demand. Must remember to top up during the summer when demand should be low!